Chapter 15 - An Unexpected Visitor

It had been a few months since his birthday. He was fairly certain that it hadn't been another year, but then again anything was possible.

The rose was wilting and losing petals much more rapidly and frequently. Beast was positive that more petals had fallen in the past few months than in the past few years. Nothing good could come from that.

At least the end was in sight now. He wanted nothing more than for it to all be over, as selfish as that was.

The servants wouldn't have to endure for much longer. Their faith in him was still strong, and their expectations were high. He wondered if their faith would last till their final days.

He was conflicted about the whole thing. He wanted to break the curse more than anything, but he didn't believe that he could, nor would he ever be given the opportunity to do so.

Part of him wanted it to be over... And part of him didn't. That part of him wished they had more time.

There was something very different about today. There was something in the air. It felt heavy, thick, but there was a buzz to it as well. He could sense it.

He hadn't gone down for breakfast or lunch. It's not that he wasn't hungry, he was the complete opposite in fact, he just didn't feel like eating. It was a regular occurrence that he didn't show up at the dinner table, his schedule was rather erratic. He did eat at least one meal, to avoid the possibility of killing another animal in his sleep due to hunger.

The servants would prepare him a meal and it was up to him to come down and eat it. They weren't short of food as the Enchantress had bestowed an endless supply upon them. She obviously didn't want him to starve.

He wasn't quick to count his blessings though.

After spending the entirety of the day in his room, he decided to head downstairs for dinner as the sun was starting to set. As always, the freshly made meal was waiting for him.

"Nice of you to join us. I was starting to think you weren't going to come down today." Mrs Potts said to him as soon as he sat down. She certainly liked to chat to him, although he couldn't imagine why. Nothing that came out of his mouth was interesting to listen to.

"I suppose I had to eat eventually." He muttered, turning away from her. He then proceeded to tuck into the food, focusing on a particular dish, which was a small, roasted chicken.

"There's a storm brewing outside." She informed him.

A storm? That must be the source of the buzz in the air. Most animals can detect a change in the weather, so it made sense that Beast was able to feel it.

Come to think of it, why did she even bring that up? Was she trying to make conversation? Because he didn't remember ever asking her to keep him posted on what the weather was like. Although, a shift in the weather was noteworthy to say the least.

"A storm will be a nice change of pace from the snow." He responded. "Then again, outside of the castle grounds and beyond the surrounding woods will probably receive rain, while we'll just get more snow and a lot of overcast." He grumbled, chomping on the chicken that had almost had its meat completely stripped off the bone.

"You never know, we might get some thunder and lightning." Mrs Potts replied. She then stared at him for a moment as he ate "Maybe it would be best if you didn't go out on the castle walkways tonight, just to be safe." She recommended.

"I'm not going to get struck by lightning if that's what you're worried about." He replied. "I'm not lucky enough for that to happen."

"Well, just be careful, alright?" She requested. "Something is on its way, I can feel it."

He raised an eyebrow at her "Yes... A storm is on its way." That was obvious, she even said it herself.

"No, something else... It's hard to put into words but... I just have a bad feeling."

He rolled his eyes and looked away. Was she spouting some superstitious nonsense? She didn't strike him as the type of person- well, teapot- to believe in bad omens. He doubted that the storm was a sign of what was to come. It was just a storm.

He stood up. It was time to take his leave.

"Going already?" Mrs Potts asked "You've hardly eaten. You haven't even drank anything."

Beast grunted and picked up his glass. He flung his head back and swigged the water, downing the full glass in a matter of seconds. He placed it back down on the table and gave Mrs Potts a look that said 'Are you satisfied now?'

"I'll try not to go outside during the storm, but I can't make any promises." He told her, before leaving abruptly.

Beast didn't keep Mrs Potts' wishes in mind. That same night, he could not sleep. He tossed and turned restlessly, but no matter what position he laid in he couldn't get any rest.

The storm was keeping him awake. It was on top of them now, they were in the thick of it. The wind howled, and there was a clap of thunder followed by a flash of lightning, that split the sky and illuminated his room.

Not only was it all of these things combined that was preventing him from going to sleep, the electrical storm was also rather... Energising.

Eventually, Beast gave up on his attempts to go to sleep and instead went out into the castle garden. He paced up and down, walking around hedge rows and flower patches, trying in vain to tire himself out. Nothing seemed to work. It became apparent to him that he was most likely going to be up all night.

But at least he could appreciate the storm. He was right, about there being more snow instead of rain. The clouds were dark, spilling and stretching across the sky, covering every inch of the black, starry curtain that he rarely got to see.

He didn't mind standing out in the storm. The powerful wind didn't bother him, despite its attempts to knock him off his feet, that had all been unsuccessful. Nor did the onslaught of heavy snow falling thick and fast bother him.

He wasn't always that way though. When he was a child, storms like this used to scare him. The loud rumble of thunder and crash of lightning would strike fear into his heart, causing him to tremble with fright and cower under the bed sheets. More often than not, he had run to his mother, and she would comfort him. He always felt safe in her arms, surrounded by her warmth.

When he was much older, he had come to admire storms. During the summer, there were often storms after days with extensive heat, and he would watch from the window as the rain poured down, while the wind battered against the window he was looking out of, as the thunder roared and lightning flashed.

He read in a book once that lightening can strike trees and cause them to catch fire, which can then lead to forest fires. He had never seen it with his own eyes though.

Storms are proof of the all powerful capabilities of mother nature.

It was breath-taking.

Beast continued to pace, staring down at his paws and occasionally glancing back to see how quickly his prints were being covered up by the extensive snow fall.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the wolves from the forest howling. It was astounding that he could hear them over the wind.

It sounded like they were barking and growling too. Quite viciously in fact. He wondered what had got them so rallied up. Perhaps it was the storm, maybe they were in the same boat as he was. They were probably just as restless.

But then he heard the wolves' growling get increasingly louder. They were coming towards the castle. The wind was starting to die down, and he stood and listened, focusing on what sounded like the panicked neighing of a horse, followed by the screech of the castle gates opening.

His eyes widened when he caught sight of a horse galloping through the hedge rows. And the horse wasn't alone.

It had a rider.

Beast threw himself to the ground to avoid being spotted. He scurried over to one of the hedges and leaned against it as the horse went charging passed his location.

Beast's chest was heaving as he began to spiral into a panic stricken state. He hadn't seen a human in years. He had no idea how to approach one. He had wanted to avoid running into one. What did this person even want?

He was completely paralysed, unsure of what to do or think.

He heard the horse begin to slow down, and it's rider muttering to his steed. It sounded like a man, but he couldn't make out what exactly he was saying.

Could it be that one of the hunters had managed to track him down after all this time?

Or maybe it was a peasant that had seen the castle and had come to rob him of whatever valuables were inside.

There were so many possibilities to explain who this stranger could be. These ideas were swirling around in his head as he sat there, leaning against the bush, the branches sticking into his back, debating with himself.

He could confront this man, scare him away. Or he could wait for him to leave. Or, if this stranger tried to attack him... Then if push came to shove, he could kill him if necessary.

Beast managed to regain some movement after being paralysed for what felt like hours, when it had actually only been a couple of agonising minutes. He peaked over the hedge to see that the rider had left his horse beside the stables, while he was going up to the castle.

Beast glanced up at the West Wing, his bedroom being the only room illuminated by candle light. If that man went up there, looking for the owner of the castle and saw the rose... Then no good could come of that.

His brow furrowed. This was a matter of life or death. This man was now trespassing, and if this unwanted visitor tampered with the rose... Then their time would be up before it was intended to end.

A part of him may have wanted it to be over, but he didn't want some idiot who didn't know what he was doing to be the cause.

He knew what he had to do now. He had to stop the trespasser before he could do any serious damage.

Beast was no longer paralysed with fear. He knew exactly what he had to do, and was going to see it through to the bitter end. He got to his feet and ran towards the stairs leading up to front entrance.

But then he stopped. He glanced over at the horse and watched quietly as it munched on some hay. If it saw him, then he would end up startling it, and its cries might alert the stranger to his presence.

There had to be another way to confront him. Beast wanted to maintain the element of surprise, as the man may have some sort of weapon.

He glanced up at the castle again, at his room and the walkways. He had never tried this, but perhaps if he climbed one of the towers, he could reach one of the walkways and get back to his room. He could then approach the stranger from above.

It was the only plan he had. He decided to roll with it.

Beast weaved through the maze of hedges and made his way towards one of the towers. After several minutes of making good progress through the gardens, he saw the front entrance open through the corner of his eye, and whirled around, to see that the stranger was leaving, and rather hurriedly. Perhaps one of the servants had scared him away? Granted, a moving and talking object would scare anyone.

He lost sight of the stranger as he approached the stables. Beast needed a better vantage point to make sure that he did leave.

He hurried back towards the stables, and scaled the stone structure that surrounded the rose garden. He crouched beside one of the stone dogs and watched silently, hoping that the cover of darkness would make him appear to resemble a statue.

The man came riding back through the gardens at a steady trot, talking to his horse again.

But just when he thought the stranger was out of his hair, he stopped his horse outside of the rose garden.

Had he spotted Beast?

The man dismounted and tied his horse up to the nearest branch. No, he couldn't have seen him... If he had, then he would be startled. This man had his eyes set on something else.

The horse was shuffling in place, tugging at the reins. While the trespasser was none the wiser, his horse clearly knew something was wrong. It could sense him. The horse was squealing, shaking its head and neighing loudly. Its owner didn't heed its warnings.

Beast studied the trespasser as he drew nearer, moving through the rose garden. His mother's rose garden.

He was quite old. The wispy, thin grey and white hair on his head was enough of an indicator. The scruffy beard and wrinkles on his face added to that judgement.

Beast narrowed his eyes and moved swiftly across the stone structure, positioning himself just above the old man.

The trespasser took hold of one of the roses. One of his mother's roses. He cut himself on one of the thorns.

Beast snarled, a deep growl rumbling in the back of his throat. The old man was persistent, and continued with the pursuit of the flower, placing his fingers on the stalk and carefully avoiding the thorns. With a simple pluck, the rose had been taken.

He let out a roar, rising from his crouched position to his full height, casting a shadow over the old man. The trespasser looked up at him in pure horror. He stumbled backwards and fell onto his back.

The horse let out a cry, its reins snapping off the branch, allowing it to run away. But Beast didn't pay any attention to the fleeing horse, as he jumped down from the stone structure, landing heavily on the snow covered ground.

He stomped towards the old man, the snow crunching under his paws. Beast towered over the trespasser, who was cowering in fear. Beast leaned in and growled, baring his teeth at him.

"What are you doing here?!" He shouted directly into the old man's face.

"I-I-I-" the old man stuttered, unable to form a single word. He was probably surprised that Beast was able to speak.

Beast snatched the rose from him "Come to steal from me, have you?" He growled, tossing the rose aside "Did you see anything else in the castle that you might like to lay your grubby hands on?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" the old man began.

"You're sorry?!" Beast exclaimed, cutting him off "Sorry doesn't fix it!"

The Enchantress didn't listen to his attempts at an apology all those years ago, so why should he listen to this bumbling fool now?

He grabbed hold of the old man's shirt and lifted him off the ground. "Please don't hurt me!" He pleaded "You can have the rose, just please let me go!"

"Why would I let a thief like you go? You would just come back and bring your friends along with you so that you could steal from me again!"

"No, I wouldn't! I didn't come here to steal from you, I just wanted a place to stay that's all!"

"I'll give you a place to stay!" Beast shouted, throwing the old man to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Beast grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back to the castle. The old man struggled, but his attempts to escape from Beast's grasp were futile.

He pulled him upstairs and threw him into the dungeon, slamming the cage door and locking him in. The old man scrambled to his feet and rushed to the cage door, grabbing hold of the bars. "Please, you have to let me go, I have a-" he began.

"I don't care!" Beast shouted, cutting him off once more. "I don't care if you have a wife or child or anything like that waiting for you back home. I don't care if you have some tragic story to explain why you stole from me. None of it justifies what you've done. And you are never, ever leaving this castle, you understand?"

"But-"

"ENOUGH!" Beast roared, scaring the old man and causing him to move away from the bars. Beast snarled and drew closer to the dungeon door. "You and I can rot here forever. If you live long enough that is." He muttered bitterly "Luckily for you, old age will catch up with you eventually. Let's hope your family doesn't miss you too much."

And with that, Beast turned away and walked down the tower steps. The old man shouted after him, begging him to let him go, before he went into a coughing fit. Beast decided to block him out.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was greeted by Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs Potts, Chip and Plumette.

"Master, why did you lock that poor fellow away?" Lumiere asked.

Why were they always questioning him?

"He stole a rose from the garden." He responded.

The servants exchanged glances, the looks on their faces showing that they couldn't believe what they were hearing "But master, he only wanted shelter from the storm. We even made a meal for him-" Lumiere began to explain.

"A stranger turns up at our front door and the first thing you do is cater to him?!" Beast exclaimed

"He didn't seem like a threat!" Mrs Potts butted in.

"You should probably let him go. We have no right to keep him here. And besides, he seems sick... I think he might need a doctor." Lumiere commented.

'No right'? The moment that man set foot on the castle grounds, Beast believed he had a right to decide his fate.

Beast listened to the old man coughing violently. "He's faking it, so that I'll take pity on him and let him go." He dismissed them.

"You don't know that for certain." Lumiere replied "And with all due respect, master... It was just a rose."

Beast's anger boiled over "Just a rose?!" He yelled "Are you questioning my judgement?! What if he tried to steal more from us, what if he tried to steal one of you, or worse, the enchanted rose, the one thing that is keeping you all from turning into common household objects!"

The servants backed away, trembling with fright.

"Right, I'm sorry, master..." Lumiere apologised.

"So you should be." Beast responded scornfully.

"What would you like us to do with him?"

"Give him bread and water. That's the only thing a low-life like him deserves. And if he really is sick... Then so be it. I don't care what becomes of him, just make sure he remains in his cell." He ordered "I'll be in my room if you need me." He added, moving forwards. The servants hurried out of the way to make room for him as he walked up the stairs and headed back to the West Wing.

As soon as he entered his bedroom, he slammed the door behind him and headed over to the rose and placed his paw on the glass case. At least the old fool hadn't been able to get his hands on it.

Now he was being punished, just the same as Beast was. They were both prisoners, all because of a rose.

He wondered if there was anyone out there that would miss the old man. He doubted it.

At least now he wouldn't be completely alone after the last petal fell. There was someone else here that was suffering just as much as he was.

All because of one simple mistake, everything had changed.